It's the middle of the night when my drug-enduced sleep wears off. I look over and Kurt's glowing eyes are fixed on me.
"K…Kurt?"
"Shh. You need to rest."
"Kurt…"
The light flicks on. His face has changed, become more defined. Older. He's changed so much.
"How long…"
"Nearly two years Aca. Two years… It's like you've been dead. Some people said you were. I… We… Kitty, Rogue, Bets, Bobby, Jubes, Pyro and me, all believed you were alive. But it's been hard. There's been times when… I suppose I almost gave up. Telepaths couldn't read you, no life signs. It was almost like you'd never existed. We didn't even have a body if you did die. There was just that tree."
I try to reach out for his hand. He stops me from leaning too far and catches it.
"You're still too weak."
"I feel as strong as I did…then."
"Hank would have my head and tail on platters if he found out about this."
"What…what have I missed?"
"Well… Me and others, Kitty, Bets, Rogue, Jubes, Pyro, Bobby and the new girl Lorna, who ended up as Kitty's roommate have been put on a junior X-team. There's supposed to be nine of us but we sort of decided that you have that place. Honorary membership and so on. To be honest, Lorna probably ended up on the fringe. We were the Aca lot. And she was an outsider, muscling to take the place of a dear friend. At least, that's what she thought."
I feel suddenly…almost…it's a feeling I've not had for over…well for me, two years. Really, four years… Then I glance over at the mirror. My face has changed, turned older. Straight black hair, brownish-green eyes, soft lines of my face, all of which display the fact Mum's family were British-Chinese. I am older. Then I recognize the feeling.
Love. I am loved.